News: Colorado

Mile High State Club
State Club
By Eva Lieser

The CO state rally was held in Fort Collins, CO at Lakeside KOA. There were 36 rigs in attendance. There were CO WIT members as well as out-of-state guests. The theme followed a play on GNR Hillbilly Jamboree. There were seminars, classes, wine served from mason jars, and new rigs provided by Trans-West, our local dealer. Everyone had a great time.

Plans are already in place for our 2012 rally. It will be held Aug. 3-5, 2012 in Central City, CO at Gambler's Edge Campground, which is just into the mountains a short distance from Denver. The evenings get cool making for great sleep and you can enjoy the clear, clean smell of our mountains. For added enjoyment, there are casinos in the historic town of Central City as well as museums, mine tours, etc. Our theme will be "Blue Hawaii," complete with Elvis!!! Please plan this rally in your travels...Aloha!

Colorado Columbines
Local Chapter

Although the aspen trees had not yet turned to gold, the World's Greatest Gold Camp provided an exciting and educational trip back into history for the Colorado Columbines in September. Our hosts for this outstanding weekend were John and Nancy Cousins and Dale and Darlene Anderson. We "camped" at the old Cripple Creek Hospital, not the Hospitality and Travel Park, and thoroughly enjoyed Friday evening's sloppy joe extravaganza, complete with a special Winnebago cake.

Saturday we drove to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument for a guided tour of the site, which includes massive petrified sequoia tree stumps. In this valley lies an ancient world, a 34 million year old ecosystem, which is described in detail by scientists.

The geology lesson was followed by lunch at Maggies, a busy place with good food. Originally this was the town's mortuary and at the turn of the last century, a busy place since the average life span in Cripple Creek was 29 years old.

Next was the history lesson as we took the town trolley up to the annual "Mt. Pisgah Speaks Cemetery Walk," where re-enactors tell their stories as early residents of Cripple Creek in its heyday. We met a businessman, woman doctor, author, teacher of Lowell Thomas, crook, Madam, and other characters.

The evening was an opportunity to share happy hour, impressions of the day and good Italian food at the historic Imperial Hotel. Some of our Columbines even got a little gambling in at the casinos before bedtime.

Sunday started with breakfast, our wagonmasters again setting a high bar for future wagonmasters. Then it was off to jail. The guided tour of the outlaws and lawmen Jail Museum was one more highlight of this weekend.

Good food + good friends + good times = good memories.

Winnebago-Itasca Travelers